ADAA Mental Health Blogs for the Public
Major crises raise people’s concern for personal safety and heighten anxiety. One effect of this heightened anxiety is that it can intensify bias and discrimination as we start focusing our attention on our own well-being.
What is Mindfulness?
Mindfulness is a term that is commonly used these days. What really is mindfulness?
Mindfulness involves bringing awareness to the present moment, through non-judgmental noticing and observing, with the goal of being fully present in the current moment.
Benefits of Mindfulness
I’m a specialist in the treatment of OCD and anxiety disorders. OCD is a debilitating mental health disorder whereby patients experience unwelcome, intrusive, disturbing thoughts (obsessions) that create anxiety.
Since the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, many of us, even those who have not been infected by the virus, will choose to quarantine in our homes for the upcoming weeks. Capsized travel plans, indefinite isolation, panic over scarce re-sources and information overload could be a recipe for unchecked anxiety and feelings of isolation. Here are a few pointers that could help you survive spiraling negative thoughts about this uncertain time.
1.) Reframe “I am stuck inside” to “I can finally focus on my home and myself”
Fear, uncertainty, and anxiety are bound to be heightened with wide-scale disease outbreaks that are contagious, particularly when they involve a new, previously unknown disease-causing agent, as is the case with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. This fear and anxiety can especially affect people already suffering from anxiety, and repeated news cycles about the spread of coronavirus do not help this anxiety.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) often wears down children and parents. Prior to beginning treatment, parents often state that they can no longer understand or recognize their child. They see their child as being rigid, stuck, and exhausting. They do not know how to respond to the grip OCD has on their child.
Family #1: Rachel avoids wearing clothes that make her feel itchy or uncomfortable. As a result, she insists on wearing the same outfit to school and at home. Rachel’s parents feel forced to wash her clothes daily to avoid conflict.
